I think photographing babies is one of my most favourite things in the world.  As soon as Bonnie opened the door, Poppie greeted my smile with a huge one of her own.  I knew it was going to be fun.

The little fat legs.  The screw-on hands.  The huge blue eyes.  The gorgeous smiles.

We were really blessed because Poppie got tired, but kept on posing.  She had a cat nap, and kept on posing.  She woke up again, and kept on posing.

Well done Bonnie and Steve – what a beautiful little baby girl!

How gorgeous are these two… I know I know… there’s A LOT of photographs in this post, but I had to share – I love these guys!

I had such a great day with Matt and Rachel, and heading back as often as I do for the Christ Church, St Ives crew, it’s really cool being able to catch up with our other couples, who are now great friends, each time we go back. Such perfect weather, despite how much rain we’ve had in Sydney this summer, and the most absolutely beautiful venue for their wedding reception up at Pilu in Freshwater.

I can’t say enough how proud I am to be able to a job that I absolutely love with such amazing people as these guys. I hope these photographs do a little to explain why I love this job so much.

Remember it was summer for a moment, last Sunday and Monday?  Finally, last day of January and here comes Summer At Last.  So we thought.  So we did what all good Aussie kids do – what we used to do when we were little, before water restrictions, before sunscreen and hats and ozone layer holes, before we worried about anything at all.

The backyard sprinkler.  With a twist – water hopscotch, a Christmas present.  You should hear Adia say it – “water hopthcotch”.  So cute.

Well that was summer guys – looks like we’ll be waiting a while for another couple of beautiful sunny days like that!

This was back in November but I’ve been a little busy since then with wedding albums, Christmas, new year …. excuses.

I loved photographing these gorgeous kids – they kept me on my toes (or haunches), tested out the Canon 5DII’s al servo autofocus, and made good use of the shoot-&-delete capability of digital, with these 3 rapidly moving targets.  Full of life & mischief & smiles & hugs.  Want to do it all over again!

I’m trying to catch up on all the beautiful weddings I’m yet to blog for you guys… this one, our last of 2011, was Mark and Maria’s wedding at the Knox Chapel and Gunner’s Barracks.

Mark and Maria seemed to me to be just the perfect couple. Really caught up in each other and how special their day was. Which suits me perfectly – I love it when I can just come along for the ride and document everything deliberately and creatively without having to treat the day like a series of photoshoots. We were tight for time at every stage of the day, but these guys just stayed calm the whole time, and it shows in their photographs. So relaxed, so beautiful, so in love! Hope you like them!

… or Katom, as they’re known… not to be confused with that other famous couple.

I love our Engagement Sessions. They’re such a good time for me to get to know couples, what they like and don’t like in their photographs, how well they pose, how much guidance they need so that it looks “natural”. It’s so perfect getting all of that done before the big day, so we can just relax and enjoy the wedding when it comes around.

How gorgeous are these guys. They had a beautiful picnic all set out when I arrived at Balmoral, and were relaxing with a beer and some pistachio’s and a little sign to make me feel welcome! Perfect. I love their look and I can’t wait for their wedding in November! Check out these photographs to see why.

The Hodges are really special to us.  It’s impossible to take family photographs that do them justice.  From high school, Fiona was of great encouragement to me in a small group of friends, and Trev wrote an amazing song that spoke to many of us in a time of need.  Dave joined Speaking of Sarah with Trev and when they moved to Wollongong, Dave ‘replaced’ him on bass.  We also had the amazing privilege and joy of photographing their wedding day, a few years ago now.  Life gets busy and we don’t see as much of them as we’d like to – this was the first time I’d met Isaac and I had to cuddle him straight away.  Extra thanks to a precious lady, Edith, who tolerated far more photographs than she was expecting.  Love you guys!

Such a great day…

There was a lot to love about Cameron and Jill’s wedding late last year. These guys are friends with so many couples who’s weddings we’ve photographed, they’ve been bridesmaids and groomsmen for us as well, and in their bridal party was a former groom of ours, a future groom of ours, and a future bride… so it really was like hanging out with friends!

Despite their day being about the only hot day in December, Cameron and the boys all handled the heat superbly, and the girls looked AMAZING, and were so gracious walking the long way ’round for a few photos near a cool wall I knew about. Totally worth it I thought. They were happy to clown around a bit and didn’t mind a few formal shots as well. Love it.

Congratulations guys, I really really enjoyed your wedding and your ongoing friendship, and I love your photographs! See you at the next one.

So I’m a day late in posting this – 2011 is so yesterday (or probably the day before, by the time you read this).  But I couldn’t help looking over some of the fun moments we’ve had and some of the cute snaps we’ve grabbed.  As usual it’s taken me hours to choose some of my favourites*.

* this collection is by no means an exhaustive and exclusive selection of the best  portrait images taken in 2011 and the omission of the images of you or your loved ones is unintentional …. 

Thanks so much for inviting me into your lives for just a little glimpse.  Looking forward to many more moments to capture in 2012!

Every year I subject the girls to a Christmas photoshoot …. usually involving angel wings.  This year Ella actually got excited about it before me, and finally when the day came she couldn’t wait and kept asking if it was time to go yet.  The new wings and halos had arrived, matching dresses bought, my little princesses all ready to pose …. and of course it was freezing and windy and after less than a minute they’d had enough.  But we managed to con them into playing around for a bit with the bribery of lollies and the promise of fish and chips at Balmoral.  Can’t wait for next year!

Merry Christmas everyone …. and may your hearts be transformed by the Joy and Grace that Jesus brings.

(No angels were harmed during the making of these images.)